With a renewed focus on Powerlifting, today’s training was the first real sense of where my strength levels are after not training for strength since 2019, and more importantly, the 6 months of this year I spent dieting down to 163 lbs and training basically with body weight and resistance bands. In March of 2019, I completed a Mock Powerlifting Meet in my local gym and hit all time PR’s of:
- Squat – 340 lbs
- Bench – 215 lbs
- Deadlift – 415 lbs
That was at a body weight of 181 lbs after a roughly 10-week Powerlifting training cycle. Today, I did a 247-lb Triple on the squat to a roughly 9 RPE, which equates to a 277-lb 1 RM. Importantly, the 340-lb Squat in March of last year was with the EFS Heavy Knee Sleeves, which are not permitted in USAPL competition. Today I used Titan Knee Sleeves (old ones, which are well worn) which don’t provide nearly the same rebound effect the EFS sleeves do. I don’t have a good sense of where my Competition Bench is yet as I hit an easy Touch and Go bench of 180-lbs the other day, but a Paused Bench is a different beast. I took a guess for today’s bench and sold myself short as I did an easy 155×4 nowhere near a 9 RPE. In any case, based on that lift, my Competition Bench stands at 191 lbs. I Deadlift 307-lbs for 3 reps today at an 8 RPE, which puts me at a 355-lb 1 RM.
So in a lower weight class, with no training to prepare for a competition, here’s where I stand:
- Squat – 277 lbs
- Bench – 191 lbs
- Deadlift – 355 lbs
These are not impressive lifts by any means, but I think some relative analysis is in order. Using the Open Powerlifting database, I pulled every USAPL Master 2 performance for the last two years. The averages are as follows:
- Squat – 315 lbs
- Bench – 228 lbs
- Deadlift – 411 lbs
So my fellow 55-59 year old 163-lb men put up numbers I think should be within reach for me after some time dedicated to improving my absolute strength. I would be thrilled to hit a 300/200/400 in a USAPL meet sometime next year, so those are my nebulous best case goals, but my practical goal is just to compete in the first place and put up a total. As of today’s date, if I did that, if I put up any total at all in a South Carolina USAPL competition, I would be the Master 2 state record holder as there isn’t one in my weight class.
I will try very hard to focus on improvement and comparing myself only to myself, but at least knowing the average lifts my peers have successfully completed makes me feel a little less self conscious about my lifts.
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